


Turn About

by Isis



Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, F/F, Implied Canon Relationships, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 02:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5479343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis/pseuds/Isis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Which do you love the most," repeated Mary.  "Major Hewlett, or your revolution?  Or is it," she added, her eyes narrowing, "my husband?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn About

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tahanrien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tahanrien/gifts).



> An AU version of the encounter between Anna and Mary midway through S2E6 "Houses Divided." Some dialogue is verbatim from that episode.

The tavern had been full, and Anna had been busy all evening. It was a relief to go up the stairs to her room and take off her shoes. Perhaps it was not as fine as her room at Whitehall had been, but it was not so far to walk to get to at the end of her day. And there were fewer here who wished her ill, though admittedly, Simcoe was a more formidable foe than either of the Woodhulls, with a greater potential to do her harm.

As though she had conjured him with her thoughts, there was a knock at her door, and Anna stiffened. If it was Simcoe again.... But when she opened the door a cautious crack, she saw that her caller was Mary Woodhull.

"Oh, Mary," she said. She threw open the door. "He has been freed, then?"

Mary's expression could have frozen a cup of tea newly poured from the kettle. "Is it Major Hewlett that you're so concerned for, or my husband?"

Anna ran a hand through her hair. Of course. Had Abe been freed, Mary would certainly not come racing to the tavern to tell her; and had Major Hewlett returned, he would have come here himself. "I'm sorry. You – I was just relieved that it wasn't Major Simcoe. Please, come in." She indicated the chair, and seated herself on the edge of her bed. "No news of either of them, I take it."

"None," said Mary. "I've written letters to everyone I could think of who could help. Colonel Floyd, Mr. Loring, the Commissary of Prisoners. I even tried writing General Clinton and General Howe in Philadelphia." 

"Have you heard back from any of them?"

"Mr. Fife sent an acknowledgement that he received my letter." For a moment, Anna could see the bleak sadness in her face, the hint of despair. "But I suppose that's all I should expect for the wife of a traitor." 

She couldn't help but feel sympathy. "Is that how you see yourself?"

Mary stared at her for a moment, and then the mask slipped over her features again. She didn't answer Anna's question, but instead asked, "Do you truly care for Major Hewlett?"

"I think he's a good man caught in a situation not of his choosing." _As are we all._ "And I enjoy his company," she added, which was true enough. 

"What of your husband?"

There was a pause. "I don't know," said Anna, and that was true, too. It had never been about love between her and Selah, though Selah doubtless would have preferred it to be so. It had always been Abraham she had loved, Abraham she had wanted, Abraham she had expected to marry. When Thomas had died, suppressing the riot at King's College, Abe had blamed himself, for he'd been one of the instigators. Anna had supposed it was that guilt that had led him to marry the woman to whom Thomas had been betrothed, but the reason, in the end, hadn't mattered. Her heart had been broken.

Selah had known, of course, and so his proposal to her had been more in the nature of a business arrangement than anything else. He had needed someone to help him run the tavern he'd inherited from his parents, and she had needed to make a life for herself without Abraham. But now Dejong owned the tavern, and Selah was somewhere in the woods with the rebels, with Ben and Caleb and General George Washington. She'd made her peace with him, in her heart, when she'd thought him dead. Now that she knew that he lived, her feelings had all been turned topsy-turvy. 

Suddenly, Mary smiled, which was a bit disconcerting. "It's funny, isn't it. You are a rebel spy in love with a British officer, and I am a Loyalist in love with a rebel spy."

"Your father-in-law was just trying to hurt me," started Anna, but Mary interrupted her.

"No, he spoke the truth. He was right, I know Abe's a spy, and I had suspected you were as well. Now I'm sure."

She looked at Mary for a long moment, meeting her unwavering gaze. Then finally: "Yes. He told me you'd burned his code book."

"And the house."

"And the house," echoed Anna. She'd found it hard to believe at the time. Mary Woodhull had always seemed such a little mouse, too meek to have ever done such a thing. But looking at her set jaw now, Anna had no doubt that Mary would take whatever steps she felt necessary to protect herself. 

There was a moment's pause. "So why have you come here?" asked Anna finally.

"You accused me of thinking only of my name," said Mary steadily. "I want you to know that it is my husband whom I love more than anything else."

"I didn't really –"

"You did. And I'm not finished. Anna, he is more important to me than anything in this world. And that includes my loyalty to King George."

_Well, the King_ is _on the other side of an ocean_ , thought Anna, but she didn't say it out loud.

"Which do you love the most?"

"Excuse me?"

"Which do you love the most," repeated Mary. "Major Hewlett, or your revolution? Or is it," she added, her eyes narrowing, "my husband?"

Anna considered her words. She wouldn't do her the disservice of pretending that she didn't still love Abe, and anyway, she suspected that Mary wouldn't believe her if she made that claim. Did she love Edmund? His kindness and his solicitousness charmed her, certainly. But he was a British officer, and though he'd come to the service of His Majesty reluctantly, in a roundabout way, he took his duties seriously. Perhaps he suspected her allegiance to the cause of independence, but if he suspected her of being the spy she was, King George would come first. He would not be pleased to have to hang her; but hang her he would, all the same.

And that was her answer. If Mary wished to have her hanged for it, she would have done so a long time ago. She lifted her chin proudly. "The revolution, above all."

Mary nodded. "Good. Then you will work with me to help get my husband back, as he is important to your revolution." Anna did not miss the slight stress on 'my' – nor that she'd said _your_ revolution. "And if I can help to rescue Major Hewlett, I will do what I can." To Anna's surprise, she rose from her chair and sat beside her on the bed. "We shall be sisters in this endeavor."

Then, to Anna's even greater surprise, Mary kissed her on the cheek. "We must work together," Mary whispered. "Else we shall never be happy." When Mary drew back, Anna saw that tears streaked her face. 

"Is something wrong?"

"I am so lonely," cried Mary. "So lonely and so lost."

She did look lost, her wide eyes brimming with tears. Anna felt something twinge in her heart; they had never been friends, but during the short time she'd lived at Whitehall, they'd reached a polite understanding. Of course, she'd been at Whitehall under the fiction that Major Hewlett had invited her there, and she had indicated – to Mr. Woodhull as well as to Mary – that she welcomed the major's advances. Now, with both Hewlett and Abe gone...

"It will be all right," Anna said in as comforting a voice as she could muster. She put her arms around Mary and drew the other woman toward her. Mary buried her face in Anna's neck. Soothingly, she stroked Mary's hair. "It will be all right. We'll get them back."

"Oh, Anna," Mary sobbed. "I cannot bear it."

"It will be all right," she repeated. She moved to kiss Mary on the cheek, as Mary had kissed her earlier, but as she did so, Mary raised her head, and she found herself kissing Mary's lips. Before she could move away and apologize, Mary had seized her by the shoulders and pressed herself even more tightly against her.

"Yes," murmured Mary, her lips moving against Anna's. "Yes, please, you are all I have left now, you and Thomas."

Anna felt Mary's small breasts heaving against her own chest, Mary's tears wetting her own cheeks. For a moment she was tempted to take everything Mary was unconsciously offering. After all, she herself was lonely, too.

But surely Mary would come to her senses once this spate of emotion had passed. And doubtless it _would_ be better for them to work together to get Abraham back, and Edmund as well; and if she took advantage of Mary now, the other woman would find it impossible to forgive.

So with a sigh, she squeezed Mary tightly once more, then firmly gripped her shoulders and held her deliberately at arms' length. "We _can_ bear it, Mary. We must. We will write more letters. We will think of something."

Mary let out a breath and wiped at her eyes. She looked as though she had just woken from a dream. "I – I am sorry if I imposed on you, Anna. It is only that I am frightened." 

"So am I," Anna admitted. "But we will do what we can to obtain your husband's release."

"And to rescue Hewlett."

"Yes," she said, though she couldn't imagine how they might accomplish that.

As though she'd read Anna's thoughts, Mary said, "Perhaps you can enlist Simcoe's help."

"Simcoe! The only person he hates more than Abe is Hewlett."

"The only person he cares for is you," said Mary pointedly.

She shuddered against the thought, but it was their best hope. "All right. I will do what I can."

Mary's smile was heartfelt, and she hugged Anna again. This time, it was a much more sisterly hug. "Thank you, Anna. I will do what I can as well." She kissed her once more on the cheek, then left Anna's room.

Anna leaned back on her bed, sighing. She would rather have embraced Mary than the detestable Simcoe, but it was the latter course of action that might lead to Edmund's freedom – and that might help free Abe, as well. But she had said she would do what she could, and she would keep her word. Hopefully when both men were free, Mary Woodhull would remember that she had embraced Anna, and called her "sister." That would be enough for her.


End file.
